Month: March 2018

Maryland gerrymandering

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the Maryland gerrymandering case.  The issue is the 6th congressional district which was converted from a Republican one to a Democratic district.

This article describes how Democrats did congressional redistricting in Maryland in 2011 and avoided open meetings.  

The article notes:

“In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one, Maryland’s Democratic mapmakers have turned an eight-member House delegation that was split evenly between the parties in 2000 into one that now has seven Democrats and one Republican.”

Democrats may actually benefit from losing the case because it could be applied to other states.  Both parties have done gerrymandering but Republicans have done much more of it since they control more state governments.

The Trump administration wants to politicize the 2020 census

The Trump administration plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

While it would have an impact on elections and district designs, it would also affect services such as education, transportation and medical care.

From this CNN column:

“The decennial census is supposed to count everyone who lives in the United States, whether or not they are citizens.
That data is used to calculate all sorts of things, including the number of representatives each state gets in Congress, the number of votes each state gets in the Electoral College and the amount of federal funding local governments get for programs like Medicaid, Head Start and the National School Lunch Program.”

The effect would penalize blue states if non-citizens don’t answer the census because of concern about how the information would be used.

It could cost California a congressional seat.  Trump continues to punish states that didn’t vote for him.

The state of California is filing a lawsuit.  Good for them!

Six former Census Bureau Directors who served under both parties wrote the Department of Commerce opposing the new question.

Sad!

Update:  New York Times editorial

Update: Trump Press Secretary lied about the Census question.  It has not been on a census since 1950.

Update: She also was misleading when she said this was about complying with the Voting Rights Act.

Update: At least 12 states will sue the Trump administration.

What happens to the campaign funds if Trump drops out?

I wondered if Trump is raising money for 2020 so he can drop out and keep the cash.  I wouldn’t put it past him.

If he follows the law, he can’t do that.  Here’s what candidates can do with unspent funds.

Notice that one of the permitted uses is donating it to charity.  Trump could donate it to the Trump Foundation , if it still exists, or a similar charity and then put it to personal use.  I know that sounds cynical but look how he misspent Trump foundation money.

Sad!